Skip to main content

CRP8 - 131 DONE 15.04 Non-attachment and minimal involvement for a simple still peaceful life

He risks no disaster from Heaven, nor complications from things, no accusation from anyone. In life he floats, at death he rests. He does not consider and plan, nor design for the future. He shines but is not seen. His spirit is pure and without blemish. Empty, selfless, calm and detached, he is in harmony with Heaven's Virtue.

For the heart to be without sadness and happiness is to have perfected Virtue. To be one and changeless is to have perfected stillness. To encounter no opposition is to have perfected emptiness. To have no dealings with anything is to have perfected indifference. To have no feelings of dissent is to have perfected purity.

Free from contamination, still and level, never changing, detached and acting without action, is to follow the Tao of sustaining the spirit.

Only the Tao of true simplicity guards the spirit.

Simplicity means no mixing. The one who manifests simplicity and purity can be called the true man.

This is about non-attachment, non-engagement, what I'd describe as minimal involvement with matters outside daily norms.

The less you get involved, the fewer issues you have to deal with, the fewer disputes or disagreements. Life becomes simpler and easier. You need to plan less. You need to think about future needs less.

Step away from publicity and fame. They just add to useless complexity in your life.

Interesting that happiness is seen as as much of a hindrance to the peaceful life as sadness. It's about mental stability and simplicity. Being one and changeless means to be stable and at peace.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lessons from The Book of Chuang Tzu - Part 3

This temporary thing called human life is a gift. Accept what is given by the flow of the universe, including loss and death. Don't react against it. Death is as much part of life as life itself. Sickness is as much part of life and being well. If you accept and go with the flow of the universe then sorrow will not touch you. Don't get involved with the junk of this world, or the transient issues that seem so pressing in the moment. Try to stay on the true, simple, narrow path. With many paths comes confusion. Struggling for fame people destroy each other. They also destroy themselves. Have nothing to do with it. Knowledge is used for argument. Have nothing to do with using it for selfish or evil ends. Keep your advice for yourself and for those who want to learn. The powerful already assume they are right and won't listen to you. The wisest cannot manage these people. Don't try. Shun them. The Way is found in emptiness, in simplicity, in the mundane. Learn to bear what...

On The Bible Part 1

Introduction So the chances are high that this won't last; a commentary of The Bible as I read it page by page. My ideas usually fizzle out pretty damn quickly, but I'm hoping The bible is sufficiently important to sustain my attention and stimulate my intellect and emotiojnal intelligence and mindfulness to keep me commenting on it until I've done the whole lot... and educated myself enormously in the process. Why do such a thing? Well, it is probably the most important book in human history as it has been the most influential, at least until thesecond half of the twentieth century. Even now, if you consider the influence of evangelical Christians in the USA, and the State of Israel, you can still see how strong an influence The Bible has in today's world. Yet most people, myself included, have probably only heard children's versions of some of the Bible stories, or those carefully chosen extracts read in church or school in our childhood. The vast majority of The ...

Covid six months on

As I only started this blog a day or so ago there's been no mention yet of covid, but given it's the biggest thing happening in the world it would b remiss of me not to share some perspectives. Personally it hasn't affected me too much, mentally, physically, or financially. I guess the biggest change has been the absence of live talks which prior to covid I was doing regularly, at least a couple a week, sometimes more. Ironically the biggest effect of this has been physical health, not that it is bad. But getting out to the car, then out from the car, walking to the venue, standing for an hour or an hour and a half talking, all add to the positive effects on the body of movement and standing. During covid I've almost certainly been sitting much longer than usual, which is not a good thing for my body. I haven't put on any weight however; indeed, through a concentrated effort over three weeks I lost half a stone, and was only a stone overweight to begin with. I'v...